SS Manticos
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= Kikötő a Dunán, Manticos görög áruszállító hajó. Fortepan 75132.jpg |Ship caption= The ship as Manticos in 1961, }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country= |Ship flag= |Ship name=*Empire Barbados (1944–48)
|Ship ordered= |Ship builder= William Gray & Company, West Hartlepool |Ship original cost= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 28 December 1944 |Ship completed= March 1945 |Ship yard number= 1178 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship owner=*Ministry of War Transport (1944–48)
|Ship operator=*Joseph Constantine SS Line Ltd (1945–48)
|Ship registry=*{{Flagicon|UK|civil}} West Hartlepool (1945–48)
|Ship renamed= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate= Foundered on 22 October 1963 |Ship identification=*UK official number 180081 (1944–60)
|Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=Empire Malta |Ship tonnage={{GRT|3538}}, {{NRT|2259}}, {{DWT|4310}} |Ship displacement= |Ship length= {{cvt|315.5|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{cvt|46.5|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= {{cvt|22.1|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= |Ship hold depth= |Ship propulsion= *single screw |Ship crew= |Ship sensors=wireless direction finding |Ship speed= |Ship notes= |Ship capacity=*{{convert|250700|cuft|m3}} cargo space,
}} |
{{location map|Guinea-Bissau|width=304
|lat=11.233
|long=-16.533
|caption=Location of the sinking of Manticos off Guinea-Bissau.
}}
Manticos was a heavy lift steamship that William Gray & Company built in West Hartlepool in 1944 as Empire Barbados for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). In 1948 she was sold and renamed Tennyson. She was sold again in 1950 and renamed Berylstone and in 1960 was again sold and renamed Manticos. On 8 October 1963 she developed a leak, and despite efforts to save her she sank on 22 October 1963.
Building, registration and identification
Between the beginning of 1944 and autumn of 1945, William Gray & Co Ltd at West Hartlepool built a set of ten ships for the MoWT to a standard design of "Scandinavian type cargo ship" called the Empire Malta class. Empire Barbados was one of this set.{{cite book |last1= Mitchell |first1=WH |last2=Sawyer |first2=LA |year=1995 |title=The Empire Ships |place=London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong |publisher=Lloyd's of London Press Ltd |isbn=1-85044-275-4 |pages=203–04}}
She was launched on 28 December 1944 and completed in March 1945. Her registered length was {{cvt|315.5|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|46.5|ft|abbr=on}} and her depth was {{cvt|22.1|ft|abbr=on}}. Her tonnages were {{GRT|3538}} and {{NRT|2259}}. She had a three-cylinder triple expansion engine, built by the Central Marine Engine Works of West Hartlepool.{{cite book |year=1946 |title=Lloyd's Register |volume=Steamers and Motorships of 300 Tons Gross and Over, &c |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register |at=Empire AUD |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1947ST/page/n336/mode/1up}}
Empire Barbados was registered at West Hartlepool. Her UK official number was 180081 and her call sign was GFDX. Later in her career she had the IMO number 5219759.
Ownership, management, and names
The MoWT initially contracted the Joseph Constantine Steamship Line Ltd to manage Empire Barbados. In 1946, management passed to the Rodney Steamship Co Ltd of London.{{cite book |year=1947 |title=Lloyd's Register |volume=Steamers and Motorships of 300 Tons Gross and Over, &c |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register |at=Empire ARU |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1948ST/page/n336/mode/1up}}{{cite web |url= http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/EmpireB.html |title=Empire – B |publisher=Mariners-L |access-date=10 March 2009}} In 1948 the Rodney Steamship Co Ltd acquired her, renamed her Tennyson, registered her in London,{{cite book |year=1949 |title=Register Book |volume=II M – Z |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register |at=TEN |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1950MZ/page/n666/mode/1up}} and contracted the Anglo-Danubian Transport Co Ltd of London to manage her.
In 1950, T Stone (Shipping) Ltd acquired Tennyson, renamed her Berylstone, registered her in Llanelly{{cite book |year=1951 |title=Register Book |volume=I A – L |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register |at=BER–BET |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1952AL/page/n276/mode/1up}} and contracted Stone & Rolfe Ltd of Swansea to manage her. On 14 September 1951, three Soviet aircraft bombed Berylstone off Arkhangelsk.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Bombs Near British Ship |date=19 October 1951 |page=4 |issue=52136 |column=D}}
In 1960 Compagnia Navigazione Zannis acquired Berylstone, renamed her Manticos, registered her in Beirut in Lebanon,{{cite book |year=1959 |title=Register Book |volume=I Register of Ships |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register |at=Maigus Luck |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1960/page/n2249/mode/1up}} and contracted A Halcoussis & Co to manage her.
Loss
On 8 October 1963, Manticos was en route from Libreville, Gabon bound for the Mediterranean with a cargo of logs when she developed a leak. She was beached some {{convert|210|nmi|km}} south of Dakar, Senegal ({{coord|11|14|N|16|32|W}}). On 16 October, a tug was alongside, assisting with pumping operations but on 22 October the leak increased and the stern section of Manticos submerged. The ship was declared a total loss.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Empire ships}}
{{1963 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manticos}}
Category:Ships built on the River Tees
Category:Ministry of War Transport ships
Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom
Category:Merchant ships of Lebanon
Category:Steamships of Lebanon
Category:Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean